Film Evaluation - Mike Dinard (RB/LB)

Ohio is always loaded with top flight high school football talent. Everyone knows who the top dogs are in the Buckeye state and it's the college recruiters job to find the hidden gems. Parma's Mike Dinard is a sleeper no more.

Mike Dinard, a 6-foot-2, 222-pound fullback/linebacker from Parma (Ohio) Padua Franciscan flew under the radar this spring but impressed Northwestern at their summer camp.

Randy Walker and his staff offered Dinard a scholarship last week and we had the chance to take a look at some Mike Dinard junior highlights over the holiday weekend.

Dinard played mostly tailback for Padua as a junior but is being recruited to play linebacker for Northwestern. Not a whole lot of flash but Dinard does have legit size and speed.

You won’t see a whole lot of initial burst from Dinard but he does have very good top end speed. He’s a north-south runner that stays low, keeps his legs moving and he has a very good forward lean.

On defense, Mike lines up at an inside linebacker position and he’s solid in between the tackles. He’ll make plays in the opposing teams backfield and he can chase from sideline to sideline.

Randy Walker loves to offer athletes that are intelligent and could play two or three positions. Dinard fits that description. Mike could play fullback, linebacker and maybe even tight end or H-back.

Dinard has Northwestern at the top of his wish list. A verbal commitment to the Wildcats could come before the end of the summer. Boston College, Wisconsin, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Iowa and Princeton are all in the mix.

We’ll have film of Mike Dinard available in the near future.